Skip to main content

GHSA presents 2019 highway safety awards

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) has presented its road safety awards to two individuals and four programmes in the US. Candace Lightner, president of We Save Lives - a non-profit organisation which focuses on reducing drunk, drugged and distracted driving - won the James J. Howard Highway Safety Trailblazer Award. She is also the founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Ford Driving Skills for Life (Ford DSFL) global programme manager Jim Graham received the Kathryn J.R. Swanson Publi
August 28, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
The 4948 Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) has presented its road safety awards to two individuals and four programmes in the US.


Candace Lightner, president of We Save Lives - a non-profit organisation which focuses on reducing drunk, drugged and distracted driving - won the James J. Howard Highway Safety Trailblazer Award. She is also the founder of 4949 Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Ford Driving Skills for Life (Ford DSFL) global programme manager Jim Graham received the Kathryn J.R. Swanson Public Service Award. During his tenure with Ford DSFL, he has brought free, hands-on advanced driver training to newly licensed drivers. Graham and the Ford DSFL programme helped launch GHSA’s state grant programme, which provides funding to help states augment their existing teen safe driving efforts.

Additionally, GHSA presented four Peter K. O’Rourke Special Achievement Awards for outstanding highway safety accomplishments to the following programmes:

• The Connecticut Superior Court's Online Adjudication system enables individuals who plead ‘not guilty’ to an infraction to participate in the court process electronically, rather than be required to physically appear in court.
• The Montana Family, Career and Community Leaders of America's Traffic Safety Programme provides public and private school students traffic safety training depending on students' grade levels.
• The South Dakota Office of Highway Safety's ‘Jim Reaper’ campaign inserts a Grim Reaper character into the lives of everyday people as a reminder that making decisions such as wearing a seat belt or helmet can prevent death.
• The Washington Regional Alcohol Programme (WRAP) has removed tens of thousands of drunk drivers from the region’s roads through its SoberRide programme. In 2017, WRAP partnered with 8789 Lyft to assist with the programme, which saw utilisation increase by more than 300%.

The presentations took place at GHSA’s annual meeting in Anaheim, California.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Avoiding the call of the wild
    June 29, 2018
    Hitting an animal on a rural road can be fatal for all parties involved – but detecting and avoiding them requires clever technology. Andrew Williams carefully scans the horizon for details. Wildlife-vehicle collisions are an ever-present threat in rural areas around the world, and there is certainly nothing funny about suddenly finding an angry moose in your headlights on a sharp bend. A variety of detection and avoidance systems are currently in use or under development to help prevent your vehicle being
  • How British drivers compare in European responsible driving survey
    April 2, 2015
    With 16 million UK motorists set to take to the roads this Easter weekend, a new European survey finds that risky driving habits and failure to respect the rules are on the increase. The annual survey carried out for Vinci Autoroutes Foundation for Responsible Driving by IPSOS examined the behaviour of drivers from ten European countries. Each year, this survey draws up an inventory of driving practices and trends, allowing closer targeting of methods to prevent irresponsible driving and promote safer ro
  • Lisa Thompson joins WSP
    April 10, 2025
    HNTB veteran will drive growth and identify new business opportunities
  • ATS report highlights school zone safety
    August 29, 2014
    A report by American Traffic solutions (ATS), How to Help Eliminate Dangers of Traveling to and from School (and Keep Kids Safe), highlights the dangers children face as they travel to and from school and details some of the successes schools and cities are having with new solutions to both change driver behaviour and enhance student safety. Every year, on average, 100 children are killed and 25,000 are injured walking to and from school. Many of these tragedies can be attributed to drivers who are distr